Tag: pop culture

Reasons to scream during Comic-Con 2025!

More and more reasons to scream in San Diego during Comic-Con 2025 are appearing!

Scream with horror–or delight!

Several building wraps in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter are going up very quickly today, with six days to go until the start of Comic-Con 2025.

I took these photos in the late afternoon…

As usual, the convention center facing side of the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter will feature wraps that promote horror shows on AMC, including Vampire Lestat, an adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire series

Across Fifth Avenue, the Omni San Diego Hotel is now almost entirely wrapped up with graphics promoting the upcoming Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle movie!

The north-facing side of the Hilton Gaslamp building will promote an Amazon Prime Video series, as usual. This year it’s Gen V, a spinoff of The Boys franchise

If anything will make one scream, it’s the undead! Daryl Dixon has arrived to save the day on the Pendry hotel!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Fantastic Four offsite appears for Comic-Con!

Surprise! There’s going to be an offsite for Fantastic Four in San Diego during Comic-Con 2025. Workers are starting to put it together on the grass next to the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter hotel!

This makes sense, considering Fantastic Four banners line Fourth Avenue leading right up to it!

I was told there will be no carnival rides involved, but it’s going to be big and impressive. It will be the sort of activation that people can walk through.

I can’t wait to watch as this Fantastic Four offsite activation takes form. I’ll be taking photos, naturally!

Also, a barge is now docked behind the San Diego Convention Center, which will be the site of the Brawl Stars offsite activation. Workers were busy getting it ready this Thursday morning!

UPDATE!

More photos taken late Thursday of what I was told will be a Fantastic Four related offsite…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

San Diego Comic-Con photos: 1 week to go!

One week to go in San Diego before the start of Comic-Con 2025! Preview Night is next Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

Not surprisingly, preparation in downtown San Diego–particularly in the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village–is kicking into high gear.

Cherry pickers everywhere! Lots of building wraps going up!

I’m always surprised at how quickly these gigantic advertisements can be applied to the sides of our downtown high-rises. They are essentially large format printed stickers. The workers are highly experienced and do an amazing job every year. Some of the guys are from Arizona; others come down from Los Angeles.

I walked down Fifth Avenue this morning, over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, then turned around, heading back to my nearby downtown home. I took a bunch of photographs!

First, here’s some cool stuff I saw as I headed down Fifth Avenue.

Peacemaker and Eagly have appeared along the sidewalk…

Check out this ultra-cool Hot Wheels vehicle! I assume it’s here for Comic-Con.

A shop window is painted with Batman, R2-D2 and other pop culture characters.

Outside Happy Does, workers were finishing up with the venue’s usual Paramount+ The Lodge wrap.

Workers were getting busy sorting rolls of printed “wrap segments” at the Hilton Gaslamp building.

And this is how the wrap will appear. Scream For Me!

On my return trip, I noticed they had already made a little progress…

Oh wow! What’s this at the Omni San Diego Hotel?

It’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle! All Out War Begins!

Coming around Petco Park, look what I spy on the Park 12 building!

This huge building wrap must’ve gone up super fast. It’s Dexter: Resurrection on Paramount+. He’s Alive and Killing It!

Looks like local artist Shirish Villaseñor is painting the windows of Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt with Pokémon characters! Every year she creates fun stuff for Comic-Con!

What’s this on the exterior of the Omni? I can see it’s a Sony movie that’s coming up.

Making my way back across Harbor Drive to the Gaslamp…

Heading back up Fifth Avenue mid-morning…

The two Daryl Dixon wraps on the Pendry San Diego Hotel appear more than halfway done!

Stay tuned!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Star Wars prop auction at Comic-Con Museum!

How would you like to own an original Stormtrooper stunt helmet that was screen-used in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope? It’s one of six known.

Or how would you like to own an original lightsaber hilt prop used for the portrayal of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace? Yes, that double-bladed lightsaber that impaled Qui-Gon Jinn.

Or how would you like to own an original prop droid hand worn by Anthony Davis in his portrayal of C-3PO in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back? That would be undeniably cool!

These and other rare Star Wars props can be bid upon between now and July 27th, 2025.

The auction items are now on display at the Comic-Con Museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park. They’re part of an exhibition titled Echoes From the Galaxy.

Even if you have no intention to place a bid, Star Wars fans need to visit the museum just to see some important bits of cinematic history!

Want to learn more? Perhaps place your own bid? Here’s the Julien’s Auctions webpage concerning this special auction.

You’ll see a very wide variety of Star Wars memorabilia, from posters to patches to signed photos. And, of course, some amazing one-of-a-kind collectibles!

The live auction will take place at 10 am on July 27th, 2025, which is the final day of San Diego Comic-Con.

Some of the cool things on display…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Assassins on a trolley! Gorilla on a bus!

If you plan to take public transportation in San Diego during Comic-Con 2025, take care! Because you might be joined by assassins on a trolley, or a gorilla on a bus!

A very cool new trolley wrap has appeared in San Diego that promotes Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming espionage series Butterfly. The spy-thriller will debut on August 13, 2025. It looks pretty cool. Here’s the show’s press release.

As far as a rampaging gorilla? His name is Donkey Kong! The bus wraps–I’ve noticed three different designs on the airport route going up and down Broadway–promote Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza game on the new Switch 2.

Comic-Con is really coming to life in downtown San Diego! Stay tuned for much more!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up opens in San Diego!

The Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up opened in San Diego a couple days ago, in time for this year’s Comic-Con!

The kid-friendly cafe, located in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, features Pac-Man themed food, merch, and lots of arcade games that can be played freely!

What’s on the menu? Everything from Team Ghosts Cake Pops to Waka Waka Rice Krispies to Blinky’s Blast Slushes to Pac-Man 45 Anniversary Shave Ice. Want to eat something more substantial? Why not devour Chomp and Cheese Nachos, Sweet Mazemen Maruchan Noodles, Pac-Ked Chicken Quesadillas…

I saw tons of merchandise for sale for Pac-Man fans, from skateboards to bag clips to Pac-Man nanoblocks. You can get a free fan club button, too, by joining the Pac-Man Discord!

I suspect the lines will be long during Comic-Con, so consider swinging by early. The Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up is located at 323 Seventh Avenue. Its hours are 11 am to 8 pm. This super fun activation will remain open until August 3, 2025.

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon appears in San Diego!

Can you believe it? The very first building wrap for Comic-Con 2025 is already being applied in the Gaslamp Quarter. Two sides of the Pendry San Diego hotel will be promoting The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, a popular show on AMC!

I spoke to a friendly gentleman putting up one of these huge wraps, and he said his company will be wrapping the Omni Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel as well. Others will be wrapping additional buildings around the San Diego Convention Center, so it appears downtown will be dressed up in epic fashion as usual!

I love how San Diego Comic-Con materializes before one’s eyes in a sudden burst of creativity, as if by magic.

I’ll provide an update in a day or two as the Daryl Dixon wraps on the Pendry near completion!

UPDATE!

On Thursday morning, the wraps were almost wrapped up!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

San Diego Comic-Con trolleys: Audible!

The latest San Diego trolley wraps to appear for Comic-Con 2025 promote shows on Audible. Two cool designs, four cool shows!

The Audible trolley wraps promote Sacrilege: Curse of the Mbirwi, an Audiobook by Nyasha Hatendi; Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman; Kingsland by Dwayne Alexander Smith; and Oracle by Andrew Pyper.

Comic-Con is less than two weeks away, and I’ve noticed more and more fun stuff popping up around downtown San Diego.

Cool San Diego Sights is now going into Comic-Con mode! Unfortunately, the epic pop culture event will be over far too soon. Then I’ll return to the more usual “cool” sights in San Diego.

Enjoy!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

More signs San Diego Comic-Con is coming!

Walking around downtown San Diego, I’ve noticed more and more signs that Comic-Con 2025 is fast approaching. Less than two weeks to go!

First, a bunch of banners promoting shows on STARZ have been hung at the Gaslamp Quarter trolley station and along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade. Shows include Spartacus and Outlander: Blood of My Blood.

Next, I was shown this online flyer from Exclusive Collections in the Gaslamp.

On July 18, the week before Comic-Con, they will be offering over 70 original and rare animation cels for purchase! Art includes that of Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones.

The Chuck Jones Gallery in Seaport Village will present The Art Side of Comic-Con 2025. Appearing artists include Fabio Napoleoni and Ben Olson.

American Comedy Co. San Diego will present Comic-Con related shows, including Natasha Leggero w/Moshe Kasher & Dana Gould, and Doctor Z & Friends.

The Music Box will host some Comic-Con related parties, including Mosh Eisley (The Best Party in the Galaxy), and One More Time (A Tribute To Daft Punk) the Comic Tron Comic Con After Party.

The recently installed electronic kiosks around downtown San Diego list Comic-Con as an upcoming event, but sadly provide very little elaboration.

The Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up appears at 323 Seventh Avenue during Comic-Con! Free arcade games and merch giveaway included!

Excited yet?

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Comic books made of LEGO bricks!

This is super cool, and just in time for San Diego Comic-Con which comes later this month. It’s a genuine comic book rack filled with Comic Bricks!

Matt Armstrong (aka monsterbrick) was exhibiting his LEGO brick creations in Balboa Park today, at the House of Denmark’s cultural lawn program. He had his stuff displayed on a huge table shared by other members of the San Diego LEGO Users Group (SANDLUG).

And look what he has assembled! In addition to superhero and other pop culture creations, he has recreated comic books and ordinary books and placed them in an old comic book rack that he salvaged and repurposed!

Matt Armstrong is a steampunk fan, and many of his LEGO brick creations reflect a fascination with older technology, like antique cameras and old manual typewriters. But in my opinion his brick comic books beat all for sheer coolness!

Here’s a great article about Matt.

Here’s some more of his superhero creations…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!